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Sunday, September 11, 2011

Harpeth Narrows Loop

Yesterday, I took a break from work to rendezvous with some Kentucky friends for a quick paddle around the Harpeth Narrows. The weather and water were perfect, and we enjoyed a temperate beginning-of-fall day with Harpeth water levels right around 2.5 feet. My companions launched at the Highway 249 access, and I timed our meetup at the state-park pretty well. I paddled up-river about a half mile, and there they were. It was a fairly busy river, but people were nice, with the exception of one frustrated soul who probably should have stayed home and watched football. At the end of the float, we paddled up the inlet to the lower side of the Monty Bell tunnel and took a few pictures. All in all, just a fantastic day on the water. Well, except for the snake my friend thought I wanted to see up-close. They must have different attitudes about snakes up there in Kentucky.

As we were doing final pack-up, a park ranger came by and distributed some river access and mileage maps that are currently in process. Eventually, a color-coded and updated version of the map will be available on the Harpeth State Park website. The version below enlarges in a separate page when clicked.

On the way home, I scouted both the Hidden Lake access and the Newsom's Mill access. Both have large, well-kept parking lots that open at 7 a.m. and lock around 7 p.m. And both require about a hundred-yard portage to get to the water, but the access points to the river are quite good. We may do a future overnighter from one of these put-ins.